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Roleplaying Magic
NOTE: This page has NOT YET been vetted for THEME. It is considered an incomplete work in progress, and should be used at your own risk! Magic on Chia isn't nearly as cut-and-dried as it seems. More than any other choice, the choice of 'magic' or 'no magic' in chargen shapes and drives a character, tapping into the fundamental underpinnings of the game's moral backdrop. This page is an attempt to help players get a feel for roleplaying past the dice, for getting a sense of a part of theme that is at once utterly the core of the grand conflict hiding behind all of the history and yet conceptually slippery. It is by no means the definitive answer to the deeper questions - that's left up to the player - but it's a Good Start. A lot of what's here doesn't really apply if your character isn't 'in tune' with Chia's magic at all, but if you're intent on building a Shadow Touched or Sunkissed alt down the way, or in OOCly understanding the deeper conflict, you might find all of this of interest. For most 'untouched' characters, however, one of the most rewarding bits of roleplay on the grid is discovering the conflict waiting in the wings. Please, read this with that in mind. There are spoilers. The Light and the Shadow We can't talk about magic without starting by at least laying in the basic notions of both sides of the great coin. Would that it were as simple as 'Light Good!' and 'Shadow Bad!' (though in some ways it is) - but thankfully, for the stories that can be told, it most certainly is not. The Light is warmth and love and righteousness, compassion for others and upholding the Law and Right. As far as any human can understand it, the Light is the motive force of creation, the source of positive emotion and energy, the very essence of creation. It is pure, uncorruptable - and yet unknowable, though it does offer a form of guidance to those who learn to hear it. The Shadow is darkness, entropy, chaos, rage and hate. It is the decayer, the ravager, the lurker-just-out-of-sight. Oceans of darkness swim around every source of Light, ultimately kept at bay by it, but never wholly lost; in fact, some have pointed out that it is nearly impossible to see the Shadow without the Light. Insidious and corruptive, it tears down creation, hoarding its secrets and demanding stern prices for its power. Yet, in the words of the Imperial Cult and echoed by hints and whispers from the Dragons, these two forces exist in a near-perfect balance. That they MUST exist so to let the world grow and change as it must, that in the center between them is all that is and will be. Whether that is ultimately true is as unknowable as either the Light or the Shadow, but it has offered hope to both sides that there is at least Choice. The Blessed and the Cursed If the Light and Shadow stand largely outside of the world, their agents are the Sunkissed and the Shadow Touched. Born with an innate connection to one or the other of the Great Powers, no scholar yet has found rhyme or reason behind the choosing. It does not run in bloodlines, nor does it choose noble over common man. The taint of Shadow or the blessing of Light may even stand side by side in brother and sister. No one knows how many there are - most who have the potential never realize it, and, of those that begin to, most have only minor abilities and weak manefestations. Yet there are a rare few - usually recognized as the PCs themselves - who have the potential for real magical strength, deep powers that run strong in them. The Sunkissed Born to warmth and Light, the Sunkissed have long been hailed as heroes of the common folk - and with good reason. Guided almost instinctively to protect others, to care for their fellows and mend their hurts... or to defend them when there is need, the Sunkissed almost naturally tend to become paragons, using their abilities for what they see as good ends. The Light offers, more than anything else, guidance. The powers it brings to bear stand athwart the shadow and offer succor and enlightenment to both the wielder and those around them - but its urgins are gentle, quiet things, that can be lost in the fires of fantacism, hubris, or righteousness. The light allows its wielders to choose their own path, allowing them to trip while constantly pointing them back to a better Way. Some of the Kissed consider the light a burden, a load that must be carried and a heavy responsibility that must be met. For others, it is simply a power that lets them shine forth with the best that they are. What it means, and what it becomes, to each of those that carry it ultimately tempers and strengthens them. Provided they do not lose their vision, it acts to make the world a better place in their passage. The Shadowtouched There is nothing kind or redeeming in Shadow, as its Chosen are certainly quick to say. Everything it gives, it demands a price; ever secret it teaches, it leaches something more of you away. Those aren't the words of the Church of True Light or the Imperial Cult. No, these are fundamental principles that everyone who is born to the Shadow learns quickly as their power grows. For the Touched, the Shadow is always there, whispering. In every moment of anger, in every dissapointment and instant of envy, it nudges and suggests. At its heart, it is a maelstrom of negative emotions that shift and pull within the caster, always offering the power to act whenever the fledgeling Mage feels powerless, always nudging them to take, to presume, to lash out, and to strike. It is a core of darkness that rests just above the heart, sometimes subtle, sometimes strong; a connection that grows so familiar and intimate that the wielder of the power often forgets just how much it hungers for them. The source of the power of the Shadow Touched is not benevolent. It is an addictive, heady thing that wants to destroy all they have, all they love, and all they know. Using Magic One of the most unique things about both the Shadow and Light on Chia is how intensely personal its use is to those that wield it. For some, the power springs full-formed, for others it is a slow and steady discovery that involves practice and dedication. How it is tapped, how it manefests, and how it affects others is as much a fundamental part of character and story as the existence of the powers themselves. It really isn't enough to say 'I heal you with Renewal' or 'I blast you with a Fireball'. While that is certainly what happens in the system - there's no story there, no depth, and ultimately the real power of magic to affect the story is lost. There are, however, a few good guidelines to think of when the powers are unleashed: ! The use of Magic requires Emotion and Desire. Magic never comes unbidden, and it never comes without fuel. This is the truly insidious part about Shadow, and the fundamental uncorruptability of Light: it doesn't 'just come'. First, for both Shadow and Light practitioners, there must be a desire to cause the effect, a desire to reach for and ultimately wield (or become an instrument of) the power that lies within them. Even 'uncontrolled' manefestations - like wild Galvanic surges when an evoker is upset, or the steady glow of Holy Aura from a Cleric at peace - ultimately come from the caster's conscious or unconscious wishing for it. The will must be there for there to be a manefestation. In order for the manefestation to be effective, however, the caster has to fuel it with their own passions. For our Galvanic mage, lighning comes when they tap their hate, or their pride, or their desire to harm - when they feel passionately enough to give it force. For our peaceful cleric? Earnest desires to heal, to guard, to protect, to guide - love and joy and devotion and righteousness - these fuel everything from the ability to heal wounds to the ability to call down Cortana. The important thing to remember is that to manipulate the power you really must feed it something that resonates with it, and brings it to your call. It's largely unconscious, largely innate, but definitely something to keep in mind. ! Using any Magic is an EVENT. No matter how good the practitioner, no matter how tired the manefestation, tapping into the supernatural should never be easy or unremarkable. Manipulating the fundamental forces of the universe should not be something that ever becomes 'old hat' or comfortable, not even to those who wield the level of power that would imply it. Both Shadow and Light tend to be capricious, raw powers that are nearly impossible to quantify or contain - and that should be reflected both in the poses that bring the power to bear and the effects that follow. The Dearth of Knowledge, and the Legacy of the Church For practitioners of both sides, one of the most intriguing realizations is the combination of ignorance and the weight of six hundred years of theology combine to make both sources of magic truly unkown frontiers. For the Shadowtouched, there once was an organization called the Luminary. Most individuals have only heard of it in passing, if that. Most don't even know its symbol. While many were members, the Luminary thrived in a time when to be Touched meant hiding away in fear, doing your best to remain unnoticed and forgotten... so, frankly, the majority of Touched never found (or were found by) it to benefit from the training and experience it offered. The Legacy of the Lumiary as knowledge - those very few who were part of it understand better the true nature of the Shadow, having been taught what was known and how to control it by those who knew it best. The lore of the Shadow, such as has been ferreted out from its unwilling clutches over centuries, rests in their hands. Even so, the vast majority know absolutely nothing. 'Schools' of magic are Luminary terms, a classification of the abilities of a Mage and how they seemed to fit together and into the world. The names, 'Transmutation', 'Druidic', 'Divination' - are not words in common use. Most Mages have no conception of what they mean, much less what powers they might or can develop, or how they fit in with others. For most, being born with Mask means that the Shadow has granted you the ability to change your appearance, not that you are an 'Illusionist'. Those who were born with the Druidic ability to change shape 'can become a beast'; they certainly don't see themselves as Druids. Even the powers themselves are mysterious, their names coined by the Luminary mages in the past - 'Wildform', 'Talespinner', 'Galvanism', 'Wings of Heresy' - they are relics of an age most characters have no access to, words that they wouldn't know had real meaning. Too, for six hundred years, the Church of True Light has told humanity - and humanity has believed - that the Touched are wielding absolute evil, and are hoplessly corrupt. Monsters. Being raised knowing that, hearing it, believing it, hearing it every sunrise and sunset service, and seing heroic and awesome Scourges in their golden armor hunting for the merest excuse to kill yet another - well. It certainly leaves its own marks. For the Sunkissed, their trouble is not knowledge but rarity. During the days of the curse on the Aegis, until the coming of the Silver Dawn in the summer of 627, Sunkissed children were all but unknown, and most were never found by the Church of True Light to have their powers nurtured and kept. Even then, the raw breadth of abilities that have shown themselves following the Silver Dawn were never found in those early Scourges, or were so rare that they were attributed to the unique abilities of one practitioner rather than something available to all of those who touched the Light. Now that the Church of True Light has shattered, and its libraries at Sun's Keep have been largely lost to the Empire as a whole, the broad classifications and names for powers are largely left in the hands of those Scourges and Priests who can dredge them from their memories or had opportunity to study them in-depth over the course of their years of service in the old church. Even the Stanchion is of little help, given their focus on the historical and secular rather than the deep mysteries of the Faith - though admittedly their libraries may yet have secrets that will be released to the Empire. Even so, the powers themselves are more accessable and comprehensible, with what knowledge that exists (what little there is) given freely to those who demonstrate any talent for it in these days of the Imperial Cult. In both cases, however, a Lore skill and appropriate exposure is handy for knowing names, classifications, old words and histories. If in doubt, feel free to ask staff. Learning, Teaching, and Power Manefestation It is important to note that no one can teach the use of either Shadow or Light. They can teach meditation techniques, they can offer guidance in how to reach for the powers within, they can offer philosophy and focus - but there is no soul alive that can teach another how to wield or discover the power that hides within. In fact, both Shadow and Light powers are intensely personal and somewhat unpredictable, capricious only because of humanity's limited ability to both comprehend and wield powers so much larger than themselves. For some, powers spring full-blown and with control from the onset. For others, it is a careful process of experimentation and art, pushing the boundaries of their abilities to shape the power within. Just how to reach it, how to shape it, is as unique to the individual as a star or a snowflake. Add to that that sometimes powers shift and change - some actually lose the ability to access a power even as new ones open, some grow steadily stronger, some manefest only one or two powers and then never any more. Even within a so-called 'school', some characters will not or can not manefest certain abilities. Possessing a school is not a requirement of having to learn everything within it and realize every nuance of one's potential; that potential may simply be nonexistant. Some may only be able to channel certain powers in certain states of mind - perhaps one's Fireballs require a state of towering rage and cannot be casually tossed, or perhaps one's Renewal falters when depressed or lacking in self-confidence. Setting the flavor of abilities is as important as buying them up to throw the dice. Regardless, it is common that characters who start to master their abilities learn to throw them in all sorts of situations, summoning the correct emotion and right way of thinking regardless of their current state of mind. In the end, that is what a Legendary in a Magical skill truly means. Mageblock Unique to the Shadow Touched, Mageblock is the most obvious and immediate drawback to the use of one's abilities. It shows up when your skill is insufficient to control the power, and is a denial by the Shadow, a thing that reduces the caster to the level of any other man but with whanging headaches, depression, hallucenations, shivers and worse besides. It is the Shadow's reminder that, at best, the caster has a tiger by the tail and occasionally it turns around to get a bite in. +sinfo Mageblock in game or search the wiki here for more detailed information. Excommunication While the Light allows its practitioners great freedom in the choices they make with its use, flagrant and vicious and willful disregard for the intent behind the abilities it grants often results in the Light removing its favor from the wielder. More than a result of action, Excommunication comes when a Cleric uses a power knowing that its use is against everything the Light within him stands for. Righteousness and blindness of purpose do not immediately cause Excommuncation; rather, it is when the cleric attempts to bend the power of Light into something he or she knows is wrong that they run the risk of being shut from their powers for good. The NPC Touched and Kissed It is important to remember that, while not common, there are more NPC magical sorts about than PC ones. Most NPC touched, however, either fear or do not have the capacity to develop their power, generally manefesting only the weakest and most unreliable abilities. Specifically, NPC Shadow Touched often wisely keep themselves from reaching their full potential. Powerful, controlled, and diverse magi and clerics are a decided rarity, and a source of a great deal of focus, suspicion, or even worship. Category:Chiaroscuro Staff Announcements